Detroit Diesel Corporation (Detroit) announced that Detroit Virtual Technician received the Silver Award in Remote Diagnostics at the 2014 Connected World Conference Awards in Chicago. This award recognizes products that have successfully leveraged M2M technology and connected devices to solve critical issues, with quantifiable results.
"We value these (awards), because they're recognition outside of our industry on some of the innovations we're bringing to market, " said Mark Lampert, Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing, Daimler Trucks North America, the parent company of Detroit Diesel Corporation.
Developed in collaboration with Zonar, Virtual Technician features propriety technology that reduces downtime and decreases maintenance costs by providing a real-time, technical snapshot of the engine’s status as soon as fault codes are triggered. The Detroit Customer Service Support Center then determines the exact issue and severity of the problem, recommends service, and alerts the nearest equipped repair facility in advance of the customer’s arrival.
Installed in more than 70,000 Freightliner trucks equipped with Detroit engines, this sophisticated system helps drivers and fleet managers make informed decisions on repairs, ultimately decreasing downtime.
“Virtual Technician is an innovative product that has demonstrated its positive impact on performance and efficiency,” said Brad Williamson, manager, engine and component marketing for Daimler Trucks North America. “We are proud that it has been recognized by the Connected World Conference, and are even more pleased that our technology contributes to our customers’ uptime.”
Virtual Technician is part of the Detroit Connect suite of integrated telematics solutions, which includes Visibility fleet software and the new On-Board Tablet. Together, these products provide the critical link between vehicles, drivers and fleet managers.
Of the new technologies Daimler continually works on, Lampert said, "We see these as differentiators in the next frontier of opportunity for us at Detroit Diesel, to expand our brand as far as looking beyond the hardware of the truck, to how to improve efficiency in the customer's operation and how they can be successful."
This is the second award the company has received for Virtual Technician. Detroit Diesel received the Edison Award in the Applied Technologies/Smart Systems category for the onboard diagnostic system last year.
This recognition is a testament, Lampert believes, to the achievements in expanding technology not just for the heavy duty trucking industry, but the ever-evolving technology industry as a whole.
For more information, go to www.DemandDetroit.com/connect.
